I watched a very lousy Prince documentary on French/German TV channel Arte today ( a great channel, by the way....this is how TV should be). But this one docu sucked big time (they got the facts wrong, mentioned his "Italian-American and half black" roots, even showed a Prince lookalike for a brief moment and claimed it was Prince).

However, one interesting thing that stood out to me was that they used a few seconds from the Second Coming movie that was shelved in the early 80s during the Controversy era.

They showed that scene where Prince is chewing gum and looking a bit high, talking to Susan Moonsie, and maybe one or two seconds of another scene. To my knowledge, there are maybe a dozen pictures from that movie but I had never seen film clips before.

The quality of the scenes was very good.

I wonder if we will ever get to see the full movie, and I wonder where Arte got those snippets from.

If you want to watch the scenes (or the whole thing), you can do so online on Arte´s Arte+7 streaming site.

I watched a very lousy Prince documentary on French/German TV channel Arte today ( a great channel, by the way....this is how TV should be). But this one docu sucked big time (they got the facts wrong, mentioned his "Italian-American and half black" roots, even showed a Prince lookalike for a brief moment and claimed it was Prince).

However, one interesting thing that stood out to me was that they used a few seconds from the Second Coming movie that was shelfed in the early 80s during the Controversy era.

They showed that scene where Prince is chewing gum and looking a bit high, talking to Susan Moonsie, and maybe one or two seconds of another scene. To my knowledge, there are maybe a dozen pictures from that movie but I had never seen film clips before.

The quality of the scenes was very good.

I wonder if we will ever get to see the full movie, and I wonder where Arte got those snippets from.

If you want to watch the scenes (or the whole thing), you can do so online on Arte´s Arte+7 streaming site.

I watched a very lousy Prince documentary on French/German TV channel Arte today ( a great channel, by the way....this is how TV should be). But this one docu sucked big time (they got the facts wrong, mentioned his "Italian-American and half black" roots, even showed a Prince lookalike for a brief moment and claimed it was Prince).

However, one interesting thing that stood out to me was that they used a few seconds from the Second Coming movie that was shelfed in the early 80s during the Controversy era.

They showed that scene where Prince is chewing gum and looking a bit high, talking to Susan Moonsie, and maybe one or two seconds of another scene. To my knowledge, there are maybe a dozen pictures from that movie but I had never seen film clips before.

The quality of the scenes was very good.

I wonder if we will ever get to see the full movie, and I wonder where Arte got those snippets from.

If you want to watch the scenes (or the whole thing), you can do so online on Arte´s Arte+7 streaming site.

Oh, I know that, we´ve had some lengthy threads on that. Buz I think what you are referring to is the concert footage and not the dramatic scenes. Chuck said that he found the dramatic scenes in his vault one day and would have sold them to Prince, too, but he never heard from him.

Here´s what he said on waxpoetics....read the full interview if you haven´t already, it´s quite interesting. The article is about The Second Coming.

"

Was there even an opportunity to assemble a rough cut of the concert and house footage?

No, it never got cut, because we never got to that stage. We were still in the process of cutting the concert at the same time. His management did come back to me several times over the years to discuss the project, but nothing materialized. The film just sat there.

Were you able to speak with Prince directly about possibly salvaging The Second Coming?

About five years ago, I get a call from someone saying, “Prince wants to talk to you.” He gets on the phone and says, “You’re not gonna hold me hostage are you?” [laughs] I told him no, I just want to get paid what was due back then! There was no other issue—I just wanted to get my due. After we settled up, I turned over the Met Center footage to him. Including all the camera originals and work prints.

He was very protective of his image back in the day, a little less today, but still wants to keep everything under lock and key. At the time, he didn’t ask about the dramatic scenes; it was like they didn’t exist. Nothing has been done with it. There’s not a lot there though, because it was just the start of the whole idea.

In fact, I thought the footage of those sequences was lost. I called the film lab we originally used and various post-houses around Minneapolis looking for it. No luck. But a little over a year ago, I did manage to locate it in my vault. I sent him a few letters and never heard anything. So if I see him one day, I’ll let him know it’s safe and secure. Maybe if he sees this interview, he’ll reach out to me. Or sue me—one of the two. [laughs] I technically own the footage but can’t do anything with it due to licensing restrictions.

I did have another conversation with him later on, and if I remember correctly, although I’m not sure, he was concerned about the material being a little lascivious. After he made that comment, I understood he’s at a different place now being a Jehovah’s Witness. He distances himself from the older, more risqué work.

The idea of the film languishing in his archive is disheartening, given his reputation for shelving projects indefinitely. Maybe he’ll reconsider.

I had actually hoped that when he got it, he would try to do something with it. Put it together. I don’t think there’s any kind of document from that timeframe. Not of that professional grade quality from the Controversy tour. Again, it’s always bothersome when you make this investment and for one reason or the other the plug gets pulled.

There were excellent parts of the footage, namely his stage performance. Even though he was in his bikini and trench coat. Not to mention the antics with his guitar, the miming of certain sexual behaviors. Now, I as an artist have complete respect and admiration for the fact that he really is an artist. Not only with his musicianship but the way he approaches things and perceives things. He does have his own designs and concepts about it.

Purple Rain undoubtedly raised the bar for rock films and romanticized the image of Black musicians on the silver screen. Had The Second Coming been completed and released on schedule, would it have a similar cultural impact?

There’s little question in my mind that The Second Coming would have enjoyed commercial success. I know it’s easy to say now, but the Artist and his music was/is too compelling and powerful. His music is undeniable, and the odds are much better that it would have garnered a large audience. It was the right idea at that point in time. It would have had a reach well beyond what his touring could provide. It’s difficult for me to estimate its critical appeal because the premature abandonment left a large portion of production and the project unfinished and unrealized. It had potential. But it’s just something that’s in his vault, and that’s as far as it will ever go, most likely."